都 (dōu): all, both, entirely, (used for emphasis) even, already, (not) at all
都 (dōu) is a Chinese character meaning “all.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 者 (phonetic) and 阝 (semantic). It ranks #68 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 都 city. Its radical form 阝 (mound) appears in many related characters such as 那 (nà, (specifier) that), 院 (yuàn, courtyard), 部 (bù, ministry).
Definitions
- all
- both
- entirely
- (used for emphasis) even
- already
- (not) at all
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 都 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 都
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 全都adverb | quán dōu | all | 4 |
| 首都noun | shǒu dū | capital (city) | 4 |
| 都市noun | dū shì | city | 6 |
| 大都adverb | dà dōu | for the most part | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 都会noun | dū huì | city |
| 大都会noun | dà dū huì | major city |
| 京都noun | jīng dū | capital (of a country) |
| 都柏林proper-noun | dū bó lín | Dublin, capital of Ireland |
| 大都市noun | dà dū shì | metropolis |
| 都灵proper-noun | dū líng | Torino |
| 花都proper-noun | huā dū | alternative name for Paris |
| 都安proper-noun | dū ān | see 都安瑤族自治縣|都安瑶族自治县 |
| 新都proper-noun | xīn dū | see 新都區|新都区 |
| 盐都 | yán dū | see 鹽都區|盐都区 |
| 都城noun | dū chéng | capital city |
| 成都proper-noun | chéng dū | see 成都市 |
| 乐都 | lè dū | see 樂都區|乐都区 |
| 三都 | sān dū | see 三都水族自治縣|三都水族自治县 |
| 建都verb | jiàn dū | to establish a capital |
都 appears in 100 compound words: 24 as the first character, 47 as the last, and 29 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 都 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
这些古老的建筑都保存得很好，是这座城市宝贵的文化遗产。
Zhèxiē gǔlǎo de jiànzhù dōu bǎocún de hěn hǎo, shì zhè zuò chéngshì bǎoguì de wénhuà yíchǎn.
These ancient buildings are all well preserved and are valuable cultural heritage of this city.
不到30小时连夺3金!他们的每一滴热泪,都写着“值..
bù dào 3 0 xiǎo shí lián duó 3 jīn ! tā men de měi yī dī rè lèi , dōu xiě zhe zhí . .
Win 3 gold medals in less than 30 hours! Every tear they shed was written "Value:
冬奥会|家乡连线:“最强夫妻档”!电影都不敢这么演..
dōng ào huì jiā xiāng lián xiàn : zuì qiáng fū qī dàng ! diàn yǐng dōu bù gǎn zhè má yǎn . .
Winter Olympics|Hometown Connection: "The Strongest Couple"! The movie doesn't dare to act like this:
视频丨空间站的年夜饭都有什么?听航天员报菜名收祝福
shì pín 丨 kōng jiān zhàn de nián yè fàn dū yǒu shén má ? yǐn háng tiān yuán bào cài míng shōu zhù fú
Video 丨What is the New Year's Eve dinner on the space station? I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to make it. I'm going to be able to make it.
和首都女铁骑,做一天朋友
hé shǒu dū nǚ tiě qí , zuò yī tiān péng yǒu
I'll be friends for a day with the Capital Rangers.
川AG大军注意!雅西高速成都往西昌方向多路段车多缓..
chuān dà jūn zhù yì ! yǎ xī gāo sù chéng dū wǎng xī chāng fāng xiàng duō lù duàn chē duō huǎn . .
Sichuan AG army attention! Yaxi Expressway, Chengdu to Xichang direction of many sections of the traffic slow ...
他们都是一样的吗？
Tāmen dōu shì yīyàng de ma?
Are they all the same?
你上次去京都是什么时候？
Nǐ shàngcì qù Jīngdū shì shénme shíhou?
When did you visit Kyoto last?
为什么那么多人访问京都？
Wèishénme nàme duō rén fǎngwèn Jīngdū?
Why do so many people visit Kyoto?
你星期天都做什么？
Nǐ Xīngqītiān dōu zuò shénme?
What do you do on Sundays?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 都 (dōu) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 都 and 著?
How many strokes does 都 have?
What is the radical of 都?
What are the components of 都?
What are common words containing 都?
Is 都 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 都 with real-time feedback
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